


Short Stories

by Blessedskies_turning



Series: Short Stories [1]
Category: None - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 13:10:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18094934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blessedskies_turning/pseuds/Blessedskies_turning
Summary: A collection of short stories.





	Short Stories

**Author's Note:**

> A story about a girl and her god.  
> Hozier released his new album and it's taken over everything  
> Also, BEES

He was an old god. 

They all were really. So old it was getting more obvious that they stopped making gods along time ago.

Anyway, he might had been old but he never lost his grit. He was tan, gorgeously so. Even in the winter, when months dragged their feet and the bees went to sleep. Long legged with a mound of coiled hair. It was unclear if his hair was always that way, it looked as if it should have been. He arrived, wearing nice sneakers a messenger bag and a smile that caught you like a fish hook. 

He came to watch these people. To marvel. To learn. 

High School was a strange place, holding everything mundane and boring. It was like a mass printer, shoving out hundreds of copies of itself every year so they could float into the world and be stepped on and stained in their own ways.    


The gods were not like that. At least at face value. Well, maybe they were.

The girl looked up. He winked at her and leaned against the wall in the classroom. It was packed full. Rows of desks and cluttered walls. A bank of windows letting in the peculiar light. She shoved her hand into the air. For the most part the room was quiet, just the occasional shuffling of feet and rustle of paper, but the squeal of her chair as she stood filled the air. He heard her whisper to the teacher. It was half of a lie already. “Can I use the restroom?” 

The teacher grumbled over his glasses and ducked back down to his work. 

He watched as she stormed over, and then followed when she hooked a finger in his collar and hauled him into the hall. 

“You’re lucky no one else can see you.” She hissed. 

He couldn’t help but smile. He unhooked her fingers. “Calm down, I wasn’t going to do anything.” 

She glared. “Why are you here?” 

It was a good question. But he didn’t want to answer. Instead he cast his eyes upwards and said “This place is shit.”   
“Do gods really use words like that?” 

“Yeah, Apollo was the one who taught me that word actually. Nice dude,” he reached up and fixed his shirt, “except for the stick up his ass. Well to be honest they all of sticks up their asses.” 

“Except you.” She said drily. 

“No. Mine’s just not as far up.” 

He saw the moment her eyes giggled -it was a thing with the humans, their emotion usually began in their eyes and then if it was strong enough bubbled out through their mouths. With gods it was always just a bark of laughter, or a lash of their tongue and their hand and BOOM you were a frog. Anyway, her lips parted and she laughed.   
He liked this. 

“Why are you here?” 

“Business.” 

She rolled her eyes again. Her hands made a cross in front of her chest. Somewhere down the hall a door opened and closed she paid no mind. “You just come her to flirt what do you actually want?” 

“Like I said, business. The old man sent me.” 

“Old man?” 

“Zeus.” 

She breathed a “Jesus Christ.” 

“No I said his name was Zeus. Would you rather call him-” He said something her ears couldn’t quite grasp. 

One time she’d met this girl who could see sounds. That what this word felt like to her, only she was hearing color. This color was a bright flash of lightning in her ears. Finally, with another roll of her eyes she said, “Fine, i’m out of school in twenty. Good enough for you?” 

“Perfect.” He said and disappeared. 

She went back to class. 

 

He was waiting for her in the parking lot after school. It was uncannily sunny as she made her way across the lot, she guessed the winter might have let up for a few hours and enjoyed the warmth of it as she made her way to his car.   
It was a beater. Which was a strange thing.   
“Why don’t you just whisk me away to your world like you, instead of driving me around in your McDonald's scented trash on wheels?”

“Jeez. Does Stick-In-Ass Syndrome affect humans too?” He asked and jerked the driver’s side open. 

Eyeing him over the top of the car she replied, “No I was just curious.”   
“Well,” He slapped the top of the car, “For your information, I like this car. It makes me feel small.” 

“Really how big could it be?” Her mouth was sharp over the hood.   
Twisting his mouth from a grin he looked away, “Get in the car.” 

They did. 

The first thing she noticed was the large amount of fast food receipts in the back, also the collection of shoes he had on the floor. Taking an orange Nike box out of the front seat and throwing it in the back she climbed in. As they got on the road, after filing out of the mess of students, he hit the gas. “Pedal meet metal.” He cheered, his curls yanked back against the wind. 

“Watch out for troopers and deer.” Her seat belt clicked in just as he yanked the wheel to the right. Her skull almost kissed glass. “Can they see you? Because I think all these soccer moms would be quite shocked to see this junker going ninety down the street with only a screaming passenger inside it.” 

He shushed her. “Don’t think to hard about it.” 

“Tell me that again when I have to explain to the cop how I accomplished-Whoa!” This last part was because he took the next corner going way too fast for her taste. It wasn’t that she was scared it was more that she found the jolt of the car as it lost traction and then found it again worrisome. 

He laughed and a held onto the edge of the road. “Don’t worry!” He ducked his head to check the rear view. “I’m a god remember! Can’t die!”

“Yeah,” She cried as the car flung around another corner, “but i’m fucking not.” 

They went up the hill. Past the nice houses and then up and up, until they were surrounded by trees. Houses were far from each other, and leaves were scattered around the edge of the roads. The pavement was damp with the recent rains. 

By the time he came to a stop her hand was sore from gripping the grab handle. She laughed inside about the prospect of a joke, her mother always called them Jesus Handles. He cast a look at her, almost out of breath, face giddy. “Here we are.” 

They were parked on the side of the road. The wrong side mind you. Behind him stood the woods. She’d grown up in this town and hadn’t taken much time to explore the unmarked area of the forest so she was slightly confused. Sun peeked through the sparse trees. 

“What?” She said. 

He smiled and opened the door. 

A gust of wind came in, rustling the trees and his hair along with her jacket as she stepped out. She closed the door, it shook. 

Making their way through the evergreens they were quiet. He almost seemed as if he knew where he was going. But as they walked she got lost. She knew the way to the car was behind her, but where anything else was was concerning. He just ambled, head tilted upwards, mouth cracked. Overhead, birds creaked at him. Or them. It was an odd sound. Unplaceable.   
Soon she noticed that he was croaking back. The Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat and his lips making a foreign shape. He sounded like the birds. 

Eventually they came to a clearing. The forest parted to reveal a spanning green meadow. She felt almost as if they’d walked miles, but felt once again tied to the car. As if her palm was resting upon it but she was worlds away. He turned his eyes on her. There was a smile there, as always. It was something you could always count on. 

He was an old god. She saw that. Resting in his hands, the croak of his throat. But his smile was young and childlike.    


“Shit.” He said a second later. He was now looking at his feet. Through the tops of his tennis shoes he wiggled his toes, the previously white material was now coated with mud and scuffs. “The fuck.” 

“You have plenty in the car.” 

“But I liked  _ these  _ ones.” 

She tramped off into the field. He followed her. His legs were much longer so it didn’t take much effort for him to catch up and when he did he jogged her with an elbow and said, “Wanna race?” 

“No.” 

Their feet scratched against the grass. His sigh was louder. “No fun.”    


“You’ll win. I don’t play games I can’t win.”    


He nudged. “What if I said I’d go easy on you?”    


“I’d say you were a liar.” 

There was a beat. “Bitch,” he whispered to the ground.    


Her smile curved into a sharp edge. 

The clearing slanted up, and she made good work of the hill and the grass and the sun, but he made better. She was breathing hard by the time they made it up there but he just merely put his hands in his pockets and sighed. He was always fucking sighing. He stopped, presumably to wait for her but when she went to move in front of him he held out a hand.    


“Wait here.” It was spoken like a secret. 

She opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by his finger against her lips. She yanked it away. His eyes were cast on the meadow ahead of them. It was the same as the one they’d just crossed. The trees framed the clearing on all sides and grass stood ankle high. The wind played off in the trees. The birds circled around. 

“Can I ask-” 

Again he shushed her. But she couldn’t interrupt him because he cupped his hands over his mouth and let out a long call. It was that of a bird or wolf. Less man. 

And then the birds cried. It wasn’t menacing or fearful it was just joyful and triumphant. He called with them too. And then leaped into the air and ran down the hill, arms outstretched mouth open and feet reckless in the grass.   
She paused on the top of the hill. Watching him spin and twirl as the birds swooped down to meet him. They scraped his arms and looped their claw through his curls and swarmed a mass of dark feathers around him. And then she went too. 

Because she knew they would welcome her too. They spun, he called to her, his previous bird’s croak replaced with a bright caw. She did her best to reply as he spun, feet tangled in the grass. Talons raked across her cheek. It left a white mark but nothing else. Her heart beat rapidly. 

And then it stopped. 

All the birds flung themselves up into the air and dispersed like a cloud of ash into the trees.    


They both, God and Girl, stood in the basin of the field, breathless and giddy. His eyes wandered over behind her. She cast her smile over her shoulder and saw a women.    


She was more than that. Atop the hill she stood watching them, an appraising look on her face. Her clothes were much more ancient than the girl had suspected. She’d grown used to the other god’s young fashion. She was wearing a loosely draped purple dress, her hair was big long and coiled, almost like his but his curls were looser. 

“Come on,” he said behind her and started up the hill again. 

She followed. A little too confused to respond. She’d only ever met him, but she knew, though they were different she was a god too.  Goddess rather, though he’d told her that the gods didn’t really pay attention to that kind of stuff. 

The women-Goddess- fixed him with a smile. “Nice to see you again.” 

He ducked his head, a sign of respect more than obedience. “You look good.” 

“Same for you. Hello.”   
Her voice was rich and motherly. Her hand draped in jewelry, feet bare and dirty. “Oh sorry,” The girl replied, tearing her eyes away from the crown of wheat and lavender atop her head. “I’m-” 

“I know who you are.”   
The girl blinked and looked at the boy next to her. “Bastard.” She elbowed him. 

He put his hand up, “Look what am I supposed to do? Everyone knows fucking everything up there, doesn’t make much of a difference.” 

She glared back. 

“Anyway,” He said pointedly, “This is Demeter. I like to call her Demmy though so pick your poison. Actually don’t though cuz' she doesn’t like that name.” 

She flicked her eyes over to Demeter. Demeter grinned something private. Her lips were plum colored.   
She’d met one god, as reckless and irritating as he was he was still impressive and, well, godly. But this. She breathed royalty, otherness, power. It was like it was hidden deep in her bones and escaped through all the cracks. Like when you held your finger over a flashlight and it glowed red. 

Glancing down she realized that flowers had begun to bloom around them, tangling around their feet. Daisies, poppies, lillies, each unique and beautiful. She was listless for a moment. 

A bird let out a piercing caw. Both him and the goddess turned their eyes to it, and then to one another.   
“Shall we?” He said, arm out.   
Demeter took it and he led them down the hill once again. She caught up with him, striding next to him on the other side. They were both so tall. “What are we doing?”  

“Shh.”   
She rolled her eyes, he smiled. 

They came to an empty spot in the grass. Demeter started down at it. He cast his eyes up at the sky. She simply watched as the goddess prowled around the edges. Restless and impatient. It was slightly comforting to see this sour emotion on such a supposedly flawless person. 

The clouds drew in. It was sudden and fast, like the sun had dropped out of the sky. “Could you stop that?” He clucked. 

She felt a rush of panic. She wanted to clap her hand over his mouth and tell him to let her be. Quickly the girl plucked through her memory of Demeter and the legends the Greeks had spoken about. The boy god next to her had said that they had gotten things wrong but the large concepts were there. According to him, the Greeks were storytellers at heart and didn’t shy away from embellishing the truth. 

Demeter looked up at him. “I’ve been waiting for six months already, don’t tell me to stop. I’ll stop once she’s up here.” 

Then it clicked.   
“You didn’t-” The girl started and then lost her words. 

He smiled back at her. “I did.” 

She was speechless. Something she often wasn’t. She looked to the ground. He looked up, and then croaked again. And again. He did it until crows started to fly from the trees again, their own calls floating through the air to them. Thirteen in total gathered around the edge of the dirt circle in the ground. All of them had their eyes trained to him. 

He flicked his gaze to meet Demeter’s tense one. She gestured to the ground, his mouth was a sharp hook as he turned to face the girl, spread his arms out wide and fell backwards into and through the ground. 

The earth swallowed him like water, the girl watched as his muddy sneakers disappeared into the dirt. And then all the raven’s dived in after him. 

She’d seen him do magical things. Like snap and turn an object into gold (only once, she still wore the gold leaf on her charm bracelet) and talk to the birds. But this? This kicked her heart beat into overdrive. She crouched next to the ground and pressed her finger into the earth. It was damp and warm but she didn’t sink into it. Marveling at it minutes passed. 

With each one Demeter paced more and more. Flowers bloomed and withered around her, and then bloomed again.    
The girl’s heart beat was so loud she worried the goddess could hear it. 

And then the ground burst open again. This time carrying fifteen bodies along with it. The birds disappeared immediately, swarming the skies and returning back to the trees. And then there stood him, and another women.   
She was dressed in black, and red. Her crown tall gnarled and dark. He met the girl’s eyes and winked. Demeter flung herself at the women. 

The second goddess crouched low as her mother hugged her. 

Persephone. The dirt underneath them bloomed with grass and then flowers sprang up once again. The girl watched, eyes a little glazed over as the entire meadow burst to life. The grass become tall, then more lilies and tulips and lavender burst from the ground. The skies opened up and when the girl looked back Persephone's dress was blue and yellow, trailing with lace and frothy fabrics. 

He turned to the girl again, put his hand on her back and said, “Let’s give them some space.” 

As they walked up the hill and then through the trees she was too dazed to say anything. On their way here she’d been bickering and shouting and talking but now, now she felt like nothing she could say would be enough. She felt like the words he’d said earlier. She felt like the flowers breaking through the ground and stretching up to the sky. She felt like the blue of Persephone’s dress and the plumb of Demeter’s lips. Her words weren’t enough.

It was all too much for her tiny brain to hold on to.   
“Wanna race?” He said, nudging her. They were under the trees again, he was smiling again. 

She looked at him. His honeyed skin and long hair. The flawless skin, and daring yellow eyes, his stupid sneakers and reckless face. “Beat you there.” She tore off through the woods. 

She was on the track team, a sprinter and a good one, but he was faster and taller so he caught up. But that didn’t matter because he stayed next to her. His legs carried him easily over logs and roots, holes and fallen branches. She kept up, mouth agape laughter trailing behind them both as the sky cracked above them and winter gave way to spring and spring to summer. 


End file.
